Voloridge Investment Management LLC Invests $872,000 in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,608 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $872,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Athena Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $236,000. Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,321,000. Jag Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 2,507.9% during the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 23,706 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $7,926,000 after buying an additional 22,797 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,861,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in Salesforce by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 27,358 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $9,146,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.00, for a total value of $1,872,521.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,071,750. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,218,599.80. This trade represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,553 shares of company stock valued at $12,897,323 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.7%

Salesforce stock traded down $1.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $265.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,373,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,790,645. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $267.78 and a 200-day moving average of $305.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $216.06 and a one year high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $254.80 billion, a PE ratio of 43.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim raised Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Northland Securities reduced their price target on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $342.21.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.